During the Democratic Presidential primary campaign, DNC chairwoman Gabbard made big news among supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders in February when she resigned her position to support Sanders’ candidacy over foreign policy differences with Hillary Clinton. She said then:“We can elect a president who will lead us into more interventionist wars of regime change, or we can elect a president who will usher in a new era of peace and prosperity.”

Rep. Gabbard was hailed last February as a Democrat to watch in the future, and now that prediction is proving true but in an unexpected and strange way. Democrat Gabbard has joined the line of well known Republican job seekers Rudy Giuliani, Sen. Jeff Sessions and lesser known former office holders Scott Brown and Rick Perry trekking to Trump Tower and Trump-owned golf resorts.

Her audience with Donald and his team raised a few eyebrows among Democrats. And fellow Democrats in Hawaii’s Congressional delegation note she failed to join 169 other Democratic House members that condemned “Alt-Right” supporter and possible ant-Semite Steve Bannon playing a major role in a Trump White House. And Howard Dean was particularly critical of Representative Gabbard:“She’s an interesting person, and the people from Hawaii basically have her tabbed as extremely ambitious with flexible principles.” He speculated that she may be motivated to position herself to the right for a future run for the Senate, but added: “So who knows what this is all about.”

Gabbard’s audience with Trump might have gained wider attention if the Trump transition itself wasn’t such a … well, circus. The NYTimes.com says he has transformed what is normally a quiet task of forming a government into: “…a Trump-branded, made-for-television spectacle, parading his finalists for top administration positions this weekend before reporters and the world.” We have to wonder, is it the red carpet or a future perp walk?

Gabbard’s audience with Trump, according to a spokesperson, was focused on foreign policy “…our current policies regarding Syria, our fight against terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS, as well as other foreign policy challenges we face.” They did not say if a job with the new administration was discussed.

Interestingly an opinion piece titled: Tulsi Gabbard is the pick for Secretary of State, not Mitt Romney appeared in TheHill.com and Brietbart News, floating the congresswoman as possible Secretary of State: [Gabbard]…does not play politics [and] embodies the very essence of the President-Elect’s ideological departure from the interventionist policies that have plagued this nation for the past two decades. No mention is made in the piece about Rudy Giuliani who has also been tagged a possible Sec. of State. But Mitt Romney, yet another candidate for the job, gets a trashing in the piece that is perhaps greater than any praise it offered for Gabbard.

Is this about Romney adversaries on the Trump team utilizing Gabbard for bit of political theater and showmanship to influence Donald? With all things Trump it is probably wise not to even speculate. On this one I’ve got to side with former Governor Howard Dean when he wondered: “So who knows what this is all about.”

I don’t think that Romney was ever seriously in the running for S.S. He and Gabbard are just convenient props for Trump to move around his stage of “awesome power”, with the added benefit that he can humiliate Romney and confuse the daylights out of the left at the same time. As usual, he’s just playing a childish game.

What’s in it for them? Perhaps the same thing that’s in it for Obama when he continues to try and engage with the King-elect…Donald Trump is highly susceptible to the nearest voice to him at any one moment. They probably all feel that they have to hold down their breakfasts while attempting to take advantage of any opportunity they get to try and keep him from driving the clown car off the cliff.

I don’t think there’s much hope of that for anyone but Obama. I think Trump has a longstanding jealousy of Obama and is genuinely in awe of him. Probably there is nothing he secretly wants more than for Obama to regard him as an equal.

Obama met the President-elect at the White House and as President is required to engage Trump in the interest of a smooth transition of presidential power.

Romney, Gabbard and others, had no obligation and chose to join in the Trump Tower reality show job fair. Their motives may high, low or some mix of both-but they volunteered to get in the elevator to Donald’s tower.

Obama’s a classy guy and would, of course, do what was needed for a smooth transition, despite Trump’s history of attacks. That being said, I get the impression that he has offered to continue sharing what he has learned from experience even beyond the bare necessities. Trump is such an empty vessel that it never hurts to try and fill some of it up with a little common sense.

I honestly do think that Romney’s worried about an unchecked Donald…as well we all should be.

Tulsi Gabbard may just be looking out for Tulsi Gabbard, as Howard Dean suggests. But coming from a political animal like Howard Dean I tend to be skeptical.

If she really was the political opportunist he says she is, I rather think she would have joined Hillary Clinton’s engine of establishment might which, since she is a promising young female politico, seemed more likely at the beginning of things to carry her career forward.

Tulsi Gabbard is a highly intelligent, clear thinking, articulate, attractive and charismatic, American Samoan Hindu military veteran who surfs.

Her views on foreign policy also happen to coincide almost exactly with Trump’s, especially with regards to the Middle East, of which she has first hand experience, having served in Iraq.

Trump is probably thinking that if he made Gabbard Secretary of State, he could bring peace to the Middle East, restore respect for the USA around the world and be seen as a president who appoints women and minorities to the most senior positions in government. It is also possible that his protege would become the first female president of the United States.

… And given that he does not enjoy the unalloyed support of the Republican establishment, he could probably use a little bipartisanship. Who knows, perhaps we’ll see the Donald joining the protests at Standing Rock?